Behind the Scenes
by Anime-2000
Summary: [Finished!] Your favorite YuGiOh! characters... You know what they're like on TV, but what kind of people are they when they're just being themselves? Watch and see.
1. Just Another Day Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes  
  
By Anime2000  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!; therefore, it is not mine. That means I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!; therefore, it is not mine. That means I don't own Yu- Gi-Oh!.........  
  
Greetings, fellow Yu-Gi-Oh! fans! I have decided to rewrite the first couple of chapters or so.(And my author notes) Anyone who has read my previous work and the new updates on 'Behind the Scenes' would think that two different people wrote them! That's how much my writing has changed! I'll keep as much of my original chapters as I can, but now that I reread them, I felt that I really needed to redo the first part. SO, I replaced all those short meaningless chappies with one big one! And I WAS gonna start this fic out in Duelist Kingdom, but decided against it just because. So, ignore my comment in the next chapter that you read about Battle City in my author notes. Agh, that was a long explanation. But anyways, I now have a better fic, in my point of view.Not to mention have a plot. That's right everyone; there's gonna be SOME story other than characters complaining all the time!

(---------)  
  
The director looked around helplessly as several Duel Monsters ran past him to prepare for the next scene. Meanwhile, a crimson-eyed teen was multitasking by trying to memorize his next few lines and study for his finals that start tomorrow. Yami paced around, muttering unfathomable words to himself and rechecking to see if his answer was correct or not. A brunette laughed and lightly whacked him with her own script.  
  
"I told you to study yesterday while you had the chance," she giggled as the main protagonist flipped through his script while murmuring something about South Africa.  
  
"Lumis and Umbra!—I mean—Egypt... No, Obelisk was the first president of—I mean...Nelson Mandela! Eh...what?" Yami looked at her. His panicky expression caused her to laugh even harder. "Tea, you're good at memorizing useless facts; help me!" he begged her.  
  
Before the brunette could reply, the director grabbed Yami by his collar and led him away. "Where were you?! We start in thirty seconds! Hey Tea, if you see Kaiba, tell him he'd better be ready for the camera in..." He checked his watch. "Twenty-four seconds!"  
  
"But I haven't—you can't be serious—My finals—I need—Ten more minutes, please—TEA, HELP!!"  
  
When the director had successfully dragged the unhappy actor to his next scene, Tea turned around to face the older Kaiba. But since she wasn't exactly as tall as him, she didn't exactly meet him face-to-face, if you understand. Tea gave a surprised squeak and sprang backwards. "Kai-Kaiba!"  
  
He had his thumb in his mouth... and looked very childish. "Paper cut," he snapped when she gave him a weird look. "You know that Blue Eyes White Dragon that I ripped up earlier in the series?" Tea nodded. "Let's just say the rest of my Blue Eyes are avenging it." Seto looked at his thumb, which had started bleeding again.  
  
"Is—is that blood...?" Tea grimaced. "I... I don't like..." She gave him a rough push with a forced smile on her face. "The director is looking for you too! You've got four seconds to get there!"  
  
Seto blinked and stared at her. "Seriously?"  
  
"Well, you've only got two seconds now."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" he demanded and, without waiting for her response, ran full speed down the hall. "Some friend you claim to be!"  
  
'Friendship this, friendship that,' Tea thought to herself as she checked her own watch. 'Friendship's a wonderful thing, but am I the friendship expert or something? Not a lot of people care what I say!' She tapped her watch and checked her script. 'Hm, thirty minutes until I show up.'

(-)  
  
Bakura watched his twin with great attention. 'Carefully. Slowly. Hiding in the shadows. No way he knows I'm here. Whoops, step over the cables. Carefully. Slowly..." Ryou looked up from his novel and glanced around the room nervously. 'Ha, behind your chair, moron.'  
  
"Hey, Bakura." The sudden unexpected voice caused the 'tomb robber' to pounce one second too early. He tripped over the cables that he so painstakingly tried to avoid and fell forwards, crashing into the chair.  
  
"...OW..."  
  
Ryou, who had jumped up just in time, turned around and grinned at his brother who had sat up and was gingerly rubbing his sore nose. He turned his attention to Duke. "Thanks, man."  
  
"Yeah, sure..." Duke looked more confused than proud of sneaking up on the ever-so alert Bakura. "So what're you guys doing here? You don't appear 'till a couple of Duels later... I think..."  
  
"You think?" Bakura growled, still sitting on the ground. Then, more sarcastically, he added, "We wanted to help out in any way that we could for the benefit of the other actors!"  
  
Ryou tossed his book at Bakura. It hit his back and fell to the ground with a light thud. Bakura turned his head around enough for Ryou to see his look of disbelief. "Actually, I wasn't aiming for your back," Ryou said almost immediately. "See... I was kinda hoping for the back of your _head_, but..."  
  
Duke grabbed Bakura's arms to keep him from tackling the other white-haired boy. "Lemme at him!" Bakura snarled, struggling to get out of the emerald- eyed boy's grip. Ryou laughed. "That's it! When you get home, be sure to look for a trail of stuffing!"  
  
Ryou gave Bakura a horrified look. "Not Mr. Teddy!" he gasped and strode over to him. Grabbing Bakura by his shirt, he screamed, "What did you do with Mr. Teddy?!"  
  
"Follow the trail," Bakura replied with an insane laugh. A thoughtful expression crossed his face. "Actually, Mom was having one of her fussy moments when I left, so you should check the vacuum cleaner–..." He noticed that Ryou looked very murderous. He turned to Duke. "Now would be a good time to let go of me."

(-)  
  
Serenity watched for a few moments before asking, "Who's that?" Tristan's older opponent looked back at her. That's when she realized: "Oh! You're—you're... I'm so sorry!" With an embarrassed grin, she quickly explained, "I didn't recognize you without your costume!" He looked different in jeans and a T-shirt.  
  
"Not many people do," he replied as he placed two monsters in his Graveyard to summon a level-seven Duel Monster. "I'll attack your Battle Ox, and I win."  
  
"Geez, I'm not supposed to lose to a Duel Monster until the Noa arc..." Tristan sighed and gathered up his cards. "You're pretty good, Mahaado."  
  
"Rematch?" He asked, reshuffling his deck and slapping it on the table.  
  
"No way." Tristan pocketed his own deck and got up. "I think I'll save some what's left of my dignity. After losing to you three times in a row, I mean."  
  
Mahaado placed his elbow on the table and rested his head on his hand. He drew a card and grinned slyly. Turning his attention from the Dark Magician card in his hand to Serenity, he said, "Come on, don't you wanna beat me in front of _Serenity_?" He emphasized her name.  
  
"Dude, shut up!" Tristan snapped, turning red. What started out as a simple infatuation in the anime had turned into a real crush.  
  
"Right." Mahaado nodded and stood up. "You're not too bad a Duelist yourself. I'm going to check out the four-way Duel... and hopefully stay undetected while doing so." Tristan watched him walk out of the room. Before he closed the door, he added, "By the way, Tristan likes you, Serenity, but he can't find the courage to tell you. ...But that's just in the series, of course."  
  
Tristan looked at Serenity and then at the closed door. Her face held a mixture of confusion and vexation... Or was she blushing? Either ways, Tristan figured he had some explaining to do. 'That evil, _evil_ magician.'  
  
He ran as fast as his short legs could allow. He didn't like being short. But then again, he was acting for a teenager when he was obviously younger. But he was still pretty short, he decided. "Hey, Mahaado!" He yelled at the man who was walking a few steps in front of him. Mahaado slowed down for him to catch up. Yugi frowned when he was standing alongside him. No, he did not like being short. A friendly grin replaced that. "Have you seen Mai?"  
  
Mahaado hesitated for a moment in thought and then answered, "A couple of days ago, I think. Why?"  
  
"I, uh..." Yugi looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I... wanted to say sorry for calling her 'Mom', you know? She's really nice and all... but... um..." Mahaado cocked an eyebrow as Yugi finally looked at him with those huge, worried eyes. "I... I don't know how to apologize...But I really should... Did she say anything about that...?"  
  
Shaking his head, Mahaado said, "No, but she already knew that Yami had foolishly let you try his coffee. She probably forgives you anyways. Now, I'm not sure about your own mother and..." Mahaado's eyes followed a random guy walking leisurely down the hall with a mug in his hand. Yugi watched him too.  
  
"Hey. Is that coffee?" Yugi asked hopefully.  
  
Mahaado snatched it out of the person's hand and threw the contents out a nearby window. He looked outside and waved at someone who started yelling some offensive things at him. "**Was** coffee," he said to Yugi and the stunned man. "Now, it's going to be a stain on Joey's new shirt."  
  
More yelling. This time, closer.  
  
Mahaado looked behind him to see the very angry blonde walking towards him at a quickening pace. "Hm... I hadn't planned on that."  
  
Suddenly, Serenity and Tristan walked by, chatting amiably with each other. Joey stared at them and then glared at Tristan. Deciding that this was more important than a brown blotch on his shirt, he stalked after them.  
  
The nameless man looked at Mahaado and then said, "What was that all about?"  
  
"Just doing my duty of preventing disaster from occurring to my little Duelist," Mahaado replied, handing the mug back to him. He looked at Yugi. "Hey, if we're lucky, we might catch the rest of the Duel on the roof."  
  
"I'm not short," Yugi pouted as they walked away.  
  
"I didn't say you were," said Mahaado coolly, leaving the man with the mug scratching his head in a mystified way. He was obviously no big fan of Yu- Gi-Oh!.

()  
  
How was that? Was it better than how I had originally done it? Tell me how I did overall, please?

I never DID specifically say who Mahaado was, as in 'Mahaado is...' But... it's kinda obvious, isn't it? Any guesses?

R&R, and no flames!


	2. Over the traffic and through the mob, to...

Behind the Scenes  
  
By Anime2000  
  
Disclaimer: See other chapters.  
  
()

Yami screamed as he ran down the street. He knew that it wasn't a good idea because it would attract attention, but it didn't really matter. As if a mob of fan girls don't attract attention as well!  
  
It all started like a normal day. Yami had been walking to the arcade. It was Yugi's birthday and being the wonderful big brother that he was, he had promised to be there. Yugi was already there because Mom had driven him. Yami had to finish a project that his evil science teacher had assigned to him. And while the rest of his classmates got partners, he had to do his alone because he was sick the day they were assigning partners!  
  
Anyways, before he even got seven feet away from his house, a girl behind him shrieked, "EEK!! It's Yami!" Naturally, more girls saw him. And the rest you probably know.  
  
Yami looked back. All the signs of adoration amazed him, but what he really wanted right now was for them to leave him alone. "This is the third time this week!" he muttered to himself. "Doesn't this happen to anyone else?"  
  
He felt someone grab his jacket. He was pulled through a door in to a nearby store. "So, how've things been for you, Yami?" said a familiar voice.  
  
"Bakura?" Yami asked hesitantly.  
  
"No, it's Joey!" the white-haired boy replied, whacking him with a rolled up magazine.  
  
"And me, of course," said Ryou. He was flipping through a Dueling magazine. "Tch, an undefeatable combo? Yeah right," he mumbled.  
  
"So... what are you guys doing here?" asked Yami, now rubbing his head. "Aren't you supposed to be at the arcade? You did receive Yugi's invitation, right?"  
  
"We're here for the same reason as you are," Ryou replied. "And-WHAT?" He shouted at the magazine.  
  
"What happened?" asked Bakura. He regretted it the second he had asked.  
  
Ryou shoved the magazine in his face yelling, "Look at this! It said we did a horrible job in that Duel in Battle City!"  
  
"Hey! Just give it to me! Don't throw it in my face!" said Bakura, grabbing it out of his brother's hands. "No.... Why that little... How dare they?... Oh I sounded like I had a cold, eh?... It doesn't hurt when you're attacked by a hologram, stupid..." He was becoming more and more infuriated as he read on. As a result, he had ripped out the page before he was even finished with the article and was now tearing it into shreds. "THOSE...STUPID...."  
  
"Eh... don't you think that that's enough?" Yami asked, realizing that they were receiving a few strange looks from people nearby. Bakura wasn't paying attention to him. He was too busy yelling all sorts of words that a few kids nearby shouldn't have heard.  
  
"Oh, he won't stop until he feels better," said Ryou, folding his arms behind his head. "Which could take a while."  
  
"And if he doesn't feel any better?"  
  
"Well, Yami, he'll just stay like this until he does," Ryou said that slowly as if Yami was a toddler asking a question for the thousandth time.  
  
"Okay, come on guys. I promised Yugi I'd be there at his party," Yami said, grabbing a hold of Bakura's shirt and was dragging him out of the store. Ryou shrugged and followed. The good thing was that they didn't see any more fangirls. For now anyways.  
  
Meanwhile, things were pretty hectic in the Kaiba mansion.  
  
"No, Mokuba!" Seto yelled, making a grab at his little brother. He missed. "Drop that!" He watched in horror while Mokuba jumped up and down on the couch with his precious miniature crystal statue of his Blue Eyes White Dragon.  
  
"Er... Sorry?" Seto turned towards Joey who had just said that.  
  
"You..." He said, glaring at him. "What kind of idiot ARE you?!" He yelled looking as if he would make an attempt to kill the blonde any moment.  
  
"Look, Kaiba! I didn't know!" Joey said, backing away from the CEO. "If I knew that-"  
  
"I specifically told you not to give him ANY candy and what did you do?! What did you do?!"  
  
"Hey, Seto!" Mokuba said. He had stopped jumping and was now sitting quietly while watching his big brother about to kill Joey. "Aren't we supposed to be at Yugi's party?"  
  
"We can go when you hand me that Blue Eyes," Seto said holding his hand out.  
  
"Okay! Catch!"  
  
"Mokuba! NO!"  
  
CRASH  
  
As for the girls, things aren't going too well either.  
  
"Argh! How did traffic get this bad?" said Mai angrily as she poked her head out of the window. "HEY! Move already, will you?!" She was answered by a rude, "Shut up!" by some guy in a bus. Mai was tempted to yell back, but decided against it.  
  
Tea sighed and took her headphones off. "Well, I told you that we shouldn't have stopped at the mall."  
  
"It was only for a minute!" snapped Mai.  
  
"Yeah, now add 59 more minutes to that," Tea said and then put her headphones back on. She started humming the song that she was listening to.  
  
"This is boring," Mai said. She heard a beeping that sounded like a melody she knew, but could remember the name of. "Hey, Serenity? Isn't that your cell phone?"  
  
"Uh huh," Serenity said, nodding. She reached into her purse and took out the cell phone. She pressed a button. "Hello! This is Serenity!" She said cheerfully. "Joey! What's up? Oh, that's bad. What was that crash? You're at Kaiba's? Hey, aren't you two doing a project together? Huh? Joey? Joey?! Are you there?! Joey!"  
  
Tea took off her headphones again. "What happened?" she asked.  
  
"Joey's gonna a little late."  
  
Just then, her cell phone started beeping again. "Yes? Hi Tristan! Oh, that's bad! Uh huh...Uh huh... Okay! Seeya there!" A few seconds after she had stopped talking, it started beeping again.  
  
Mai and Tea exchanged glances as Serenity answered her call. When she was done, she said, "First of all, Tristan's motorcycle broke down. He says he's walking so it shouldn't take too long. Then Duke called and said that he's on a bus...hold on." She looked out the window and yelled, "HI DUKE!" as loudly as she could to that bus that was mentioned from before. Mai and Tea were slightly surprised to see Duke stick his head out the window and yell hi back.  
  
"Say Serenity?" asked Tea. "How did Duke and Tristan get your number?"  
  
"Um...."  
  
"Finally! We can move!" Mai exclaimed, saving Serenity from having to explain.  
  
Yugi sighed as a big flashing 'YOU LOSE' sign appear on the screen of the game he was just playing. "Darn, that's all the money I have!" He said, frowning. "I wonder where everyone else is! And where's Yami? He promised-" Yugi stopped talking. He just realized that someone was behind him.

()R&R! No flames please!


	3. Arcade Anarchy

Behind the Scenes  
  
By Anime2000  
  
Disclaimer: As stated before, Yu-Gi-Oh! is not property of Anime2000 and is rightly Kazuki Takahashi's work. All rights reserved.  
  
(-----------------)  
  
Yugi froze. Who was behind him? It definitely wasn't Joey or Tristan. They would have announced their arrival by slapping him on the back and asking if they could have a shot at the game he was playing. It wasn't Tea because she would have normally yelled a 'hi' before running over. He knew that Mai and Serenity was with her, so the person behind him couldn't have been either of them. Duke? He doubted that he would come. Bakura probably wouldn't come, but Ryou might. Or he might not. That just left Yami. But what if it wasn't-  
  
"Are you going to turn around or what?"  
  
Yugi sighed in relief. He knew that voice. "Isis!" he said turning around. "You scared me for a moment there!" He smiled cheerfully as he faced the Egyptian girl. "Hey, where are Malik and Mariku?"  
  
"Oh, him?" asked Isis. "Funny you should mention-"  
  
He was interrupted by a loud banging noise behind him. She grinned almost embarrassedly as her brother's 'darker side' banged angrily at vending machine, demanding to get his money back. Apparently, it had swallowed up his dollar and refused to give him a coke.  
  
"Mariku!" Malik's voice could be heard as he tried to stop Mariku from breaking the thing. "You don't bang on it like that! You do this!" He gave it a swift kick and a can came rolling out. "See?"  
  
Mariku picked the Sprite up and stared at it for a moment before saying, "I wanted a coke."  
  
"Then I'll take this," Malik replied, snatching the can of Sprite out of his hand.  
  
"Thanks, Malik," Bakura said grabbing it out of the blonde's hand.  
  
"Bakura?" asked Yugi, his eyes wider than they originally were. "You here?"  
  
"Actually," the snowy-haired teen replied tossing the can of Sprite from one hand to another. "I'm Ryou," he said opening it as his twin walked up. Whether it was by accident, or on purpose, he ended up drenching Bakura in the sugary beverage. "But Bakura is here."  
  
Everyone stared at Ryou. Especially Malik and Mariku. Bakura was just staring at him in disbelief.  
  
"That was my Sprite you just wasted," Malik said frowning.  
  
"That was MY money you just wasted!" Mariku shouted pointing at them.  
  
"That was not funny, Ryou!" Bakura yelled looking ready to rip his brother apart.  
  
"Yeah..." Ryou folded his arms, "But..." He looked around at the people around him. "It was worth it!" He said laughing at the expression on his friends' faces. Mariku, Malik, and Bakura just stood there recovering from shock. Then they realized that Ryou was running away and they ran after him.  
  
"D'you think Ryou'll be okay?" asked Yugi to Isis.  
  
"Yeah, he's a pretty fast runner," Yami said for her. Remember? He came with Bakura and Ryou.  
  
"Yami!" Yugi said happily. "You're here!" He gave his older brother a hug and said, "Do you have any money?"  
  
"Eh?" asked Yami. 'Oh yeah. I thought I forgot something. Haha... You can't go to an arcade without any money,' the spiky-haired teen thought to himself. "Ah... no." He looked around. "But... um... Tea might have some!" he exclaimed pointing to the brunette that was walking through the front entrance of the arcade.  
  
"Tea? Tea!" Yugi cried running over to his friend. Change that to friends. Mai and Serenity was there too.  
  
Yami breathed a sigh of relief. "Forgot money?" Yami turned around to see Tristan. Nobody knows how he got here. Perhaps it might have been because his house was just two blocks away from the arcade, and he only rides his motorcycle to show off... To who? Serenity?  
  
"Yeah." He nodded. "Say, do you have any-" Before he could finish his sentence, he realized that Tristan was already playing Pinball. "Oh." And Tristan wasn't very good at Pinball. "Ah.... Tristan?"  
  
"What?" Tristan asked as he lost his second ball. "Dang!" His score? 2,000.  
  
"Serenity's here," he said, pointing to the group of teens and a tri-haired boy near the entrance.  
  
"What?!" Tristan looked behind him at the mentioning of Serenity's name. "Hey! Serenity's here!" Yami blinked, but he decided not to say anything. "And what's Devlin doing with her?!" He ran off towards them, leaving Yami with one ball left.  
  
'Better than nothing,' Yami thought as he started to play.

(-)  
  
But where could Seto and Mokuba be? Why, on their way here, of course!  
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
"For the last time, Wheeler, NO!"  
  
And Joey was with them.  
  
"Are we there yet-"  
  
"Mokuba, don't even start," growled Seto. This was the last time he let Joey in the car with them. "Man, this truck just won't move, will it?!" He grumbled, glaring at the vehicle in front of him. "Mokuba, how would you feel if we DIDN'T go to Yugi's party-"  
  
"But Kaiba, we're-" Joey started, but Seto cut him off.  
  
"Wheeler, I swear, if you say something else again, I will make sure that you will never be able to say anything again!" Seto warned, turning around.  
  
"But, Kaiba-"  
  
"No! Don't say-"  
  
"Kaiba, we're there!" Joey blurted out.  
  
"Wheeler- We are?"  
  
"Yeah! See?" Joey said pressing his finger against the glass window. Mokuba looked over the taller boy's shoulder.  
  
Seto stared blankly at the truck in front of him. He was so frustrated that he didn't realize that he was already there.  
  
"Well, Kaiba, are we-"  
  
"Shut up!"

(-)  
  
"Whoa! Look at that guy!"  
  
"He's got that far with only one ball!"  
  
"He's gonna beat the high score!"  
  
"Hey, isn't he that guy from Yu-Gi-Oh!?"  
  
People whispered excitedly around Yami as he kept on playing. He didn't notice that a whole crowd of people had gathered around him. He didn't realize that there were people slapping him on the back and cheering him on. He was oblivious to his surroundings. All he knew was that he couldn't let the ball get past his defenses. He couldn't let it go through-  
  
"What's this? Yami playing Pinball? Now, I never would of thought of this!"  
  
-the flippers.  
  
That voice snapped Yami out of his trance. Yami watched helplessly as the last ball went in between the bottom two flippers. (Don't you just hate it when that happens?) He didn't beat the high score.  
  
Yami turned towards the direction where that voice came from. He knew it very well. "Kaiba," Yami said, his voice dripping with rage. "I almost beat the high score! You distracted me!"  
  
"High score?" asked Seto as Mokuba and Joey ran in separate directions; towards their favorite games. "Do you mean... mine?" He smirked.  
  
Yami opened his mouth, but closed it because he couldn't think of anything to say. He knew it was Kaiba's. That's why he was trying to beat it. So how could Yami say that he just failed when he knew what he was doing?  
  
"Geez, some King of Games," said a guy walking out of the crowd. Slowly, the large crowd that had been around Yami had diminished to seven people: Tea, Serenity, Mai, Yugi, Isis, Duke, and Tristan.  
  
"You did a great job, Yami," Tea said trying to cheer him up. "It doesn't matter if Kaiba beat you just this once!"  
  
"Yeah!" Yugi joined in.  
  
Yami heard them, but he didn't feel any better. "What's the matter, Yami?" asked Seto tauntingly. "You couldn't beat me, could you?"  
  
"No," said Yami. Then he smiled. "But there will always be one game that you'll never beat me in." He pulled out his deck of Duel Monsters.  
  
"Is that a challenge?" asked Seto, taking out his own deck that, too, had been conveniently at hand.  
  
"What else?" asked Yami shuffling his cards. Both rivals glared at each other while the spectators watched excitedly as they got ready for their Duel, completely unaware of Ryou, who was behind them, running for dear life while being chased by Bakura, Malik and Mariku who were throwing basketballs at him.

(------------------)

Fun. A Duel coming.  
R&R! And no flames!


	4. Matters of the Heart

Behind the Scenes  
  
By Anime2000  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!. Simple as that!

()  
  
"I'll play the Mystical Elf down in defense mode. End turn." The Duel was on. Since there were no fancy Duel disks or arenas, the two Duelists had to make do with the sticky tile floor of the arcade. Both Duelists started at 8000 Lifepoints and six cards in each hand. Yami had made the first move. Then he waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
Some more.  
  
"Kaiba, the monsters aren't going to come to life," he finally said after five minutes.  
  
"I know that!" snapped Seto; looking up from his and Yami's cards that he had been boring holes into with his eyes. "Great strategies take time!"  
  
"Admit it," laughed Yami. "You're nothing without the script!"  
  
"Dark Hole, Lord of D., Flute of Summoning, and two Blue Eyes White Dragons. Attack," The young CEO said placing down all the necessary cards in order. "Leaving you with less than 1000."  
  
Yami blinked and stared at what Seto had just done. "......... Ah........." He drew a card from his deck and looked at his hand. He had six cards again. "I'll play Change of Heart on your Lord of D. Darkness Approaches allows me to flip if facedown. That lets me play Soul Exchange on your two Blue Eyes. I'll sacrifice your three monsters and summon the powerful Slifer the Sky Dragon! Attack!"  
  
Seto looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. "Yami, you could just tell me that I lost 2000 Lifepoints."  
  
Yami sighed and grinned embarrassedly, "I know, I was practicing for the next episode, you know?"  
  
"And another thing," said Seto, holding up the crimson dragon card. "No God Cards." Yami picked up his opponent's deck. "Hey! What are you doing?!" Seto cried as the spiky-haired teen searched through his deck. When he found the card he was looking for, he held it up to Seto's face. Seto recognized the blue card as Obelisk the Tormentor.  
  
"Wow, Kaiba. I didn't think you'd sink so low," Bakura piped up. Then he put a hand to his chin in mock thoughtfulness and then said, "Well, actually, yes I did."  
  
"You just keep your mouth shut," growled Seto. But Bakura had been for the past......... time. He had been after he, Malik, and Mariku caught up to Ryou. Even though Ryou was slightly battered up, you could tell that he didn't go down without a fight. Considering the identical black eyes that the Egyptian twins now sported, and what seemed to be some of Bakura's hair that was clenched tightly in Ryou's hand.  
  
While the tension builds up between the two Duelists, Yugi and Mokuba weren't so competitive.  
  
"Look!" Yugi showed his friend the prize he got for his tickets. "It's the last Yami Yugi plushie! I'm gonna give it to my brother!"  
  
Mokuba nodded and sighed, "They were out of Seto Kaiba plushies. I don't understand how. They restocked ten minutes ago before those girls came. I got a Blue Eyes White Dragon one instead—"  
  
"Hold up," Yugi said suddenly. "There were no Kaiba plushies. There was only ONE Yami plushie. And a bunch of girls Sooooo........."  
  
It took a while for those two to realize but when they did, they looked at each other in horror and whispered at the same time, "Fangirls."  
  
"Yugi!" a high-pitched squeal came from their left. "Mokuba!" Before the two had a chance to run, they found themselves trapped in a crushing embrace. "Look everyone! Look who I found!"  
  
Soon more and fangirls had come over. "Yami!" screamed Yugi trying to escape, but it was useless. The girls blinked. And then began looking around, scouring the place for a certain tri-haired teen. They found him. And half of them were even more excited to see Seto Kaiba with him. They left Yugi and Mokuba alone.  
  
"Whew!" sighed Mokuba. "That was close. I always knew that my big brother would come through for me!"  
  
Yugi nodded, hugging his Yami plushie. "But, um, should we help them?"  
  
"Nah," the raven-haired boy said, shaking his head. He pulled on one of the Blue Eyes White Dragon's wings to see how far they would stretch. "They'll be fine." Yugi wasn't so sure.  
  
Their older brothers were much too focused on the Duel to realize that a group of girls were running towards them. Seto had tried a couple of unsuccessful attempts to destroy Slifer by trying to prevent it from using its effects, all including Buster Blader. Yami countered with all sorts of traps and spells(I think they changed magic cards to spell cards to avoid confusion with the card game 'Magic').  
  
Yami was the first to notice that a bunch of girls had crowded around them. "Hey!" said Tea. "Where did they all come from?"  
  
"None of your business, cheerleader," one of them said rudely to her. Tea gave her a surprised look.  
  
"Wha—what?" Tea asked, though she knew that that girl was a Tea basher.  
  
"You heard me! And Kaiba's mine! You can have Yami!"  
  
"HUH??" gasped Tea, blushing.  
  
"Leave her alone!" The two girls turned their heads to the direction that voice came from. Yugi was trying his best to look tough, and Mokuba was trying his best to drag his friend away. "I mean please leave her alone! She's my friend!"  
  
Yami, who had been in this situation many times, did the first thing to come to his mind. He gasped melodramatically, "Kaiba, you beat me!"  
  
"I did?" Seto asked, not understanding how because Yami definitely had the advantage. Slifer got another direct attack on him, and then Yami's Beta attacked him directly too, leaving him with 300 Lifepoints. Yami gathered up all his cards and shuffled them in his deck before anyone else saw their Duel.  
  
He got up and then sighed in mock defeat. "Oh, whatever shall I do? Does this mean I have to give up my title as Game King?" Tears streamed down his face as he turned around with a noble smile on his face. "I'm glad it was you who defeated me. I couldn't stand it if anyone else did." He turned back around for a very grand exit.  
  
Suddenly, the girls swarmed around him, Kaiba fans congratulating him, and forever Yami fan yelling hateful things at him. Yami took that as his cue to grab his brother by the arm and leave quietly; it wasn't as great as he would've had it, but it'll do. Those who weren't swarmed by fans, in other words everyone else besides the Kaibas, followed.  
  
"Bye Yugi!" said Mokuba, waving. "I'm gonna wait for my brother."  
  
Outside, the sun was shining, and it looked like what the weatherman had said earlier today was right. No rain.  
  
"Not bad," said Mariku to Yami. "Well, not too bad."  
  
Yami shrugged, but looked extremely proud of himself. "Hey, I'm a good actor!"  
  
"Yami," said Yugi, handing his prize to his older brother. "I got this for you!"  
  
Yami placed it back in Yugi's hands. "No, little brother. Today's YOUR birthday. You keep it."  
  
"Gee, Yami. Thanks!" Yugi said happily giving Yami a hug. Yami hugged him back.  
  
The rest of the gang clasped their hands together, smiled warmly, and said—  
  
"Ah, shut up!" snapped Yami glaring at them.  
  
—, "Awwwwwww."  
  
"You never do," said Yami, sighing.  
  
Tea smiled mischievously and was about to start a friendship rant for the fun of it said, "Well, friends always do things to embarrass friends!"  
  
A very weird sounding growl. A few random people walking by gave them a weird look. Joey put a hand to his stomach and grinned sheepishly. "Uh, guys. I'm kinda hungry."  
  
"See?"  
  
()

R&R!


	5. The YuGiOh! Convention

Behind the Scenes

By Anime2000

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!. Any of it other than the cards and other fan stuff that we're ALLOWED to have.Simple enough?

Hi everyone! Agh, I had written this chapter a month ago. Never did get a chance to upload it, though...

Notice any changes to chapter one? Yeah, I rewrote the first couple of chapters or so into one big one—as I've explained. I hope you guys like—or at least are okay—with the changes.

Strangely, this fic started out as a throwaway fic that I meant to delete if the reviews didn't reach ten. But I've found a new inspiration for this fic—including an ending! Weird how things turn out, huh?

(------------)

"I can't believe this," Bakura looked absolutely disgusted.

"Mahaado, tell me you're kidding around," Tristan clasped his hands together and was practically begging.

"Mana's gonna win!" sang Yugi.

With that, the blond girl promptly slammed the indigo-haired man's hand down on the table. Hard. Mahaado stared at the defeated palm in disbelief as she clapped her hands together and laughed, "I win again!" She crossed her fingers, rested her chin on them, and gave him a sweet smile and said, "Wanna play again?"

After losing three arm wrestling matches, in a row, with the actress for the Dark Magician Girl, the actor for the Dark Magician knew better than to accept. He just wondered how she could be so freakin' strong. "No..."

"Okay, Taylor, you owe me five bucks." Bakura held a hand out for his pay.

"Yeah, yeah..." Tristan grumbled and grudgingly relinquished the five.

Meanwhile, around them, the number of fans at the Yu-Gi-Oh! convention had tripled, and were on the verge of quadrupling. Yami and Yugi were already signing dozens of autographs per minute; Yami doing most of the work while Yugi disappeared randomly at random times. Like right now. He was visiting his two Spellcaster friends.

Tristan patted Mahaado's back sympathetically while Bakura snorted, "I mean honestly! Once was bad enough, but not twice—three times!" Mahaado glared at the white-haired actor and would not have hesitated to beat him up, if Mana hadn't intervened.

"Aw," she said and shrugged casually, "but Mahaado probably let me win, right?" She winked at him and nudged him hard in the ribs. Mahaado took the hint and nodded, sheepishly. Whether pretending, or actual feeling guilty for accepting the credit Mana had given him in order to redeem his masculinity, one couldn't tell. A little girl tugged lightly at Mana's skirt and asked if she was really the Dark Magician Girl. Mana replied with a broad grin and a nod. "I'm in my outfit, aren't I?"

"So you're really her?" the child asked curiously as she handed the older girl a notebook and a pen. "'Cause there's a lot of cosplayers here."

"Indubitably," Mana replied in a bubbly way as she signed it and handed it back. "Do you want Dark Magician to sign it, too?"

"Uh uh," the little girl said, smiling and shaking her head. "Dark Magician's not as cool as you!"

Mahaado actually did one of those infamous anime falls as the girl skipped off. He slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position with his arms and muttered, "Without the Dark Magician, there wouldn't be a Dark Magician Girl..." Bakura and Tristan roared with laughter, and Mana had difficulties suppressing a giggle. Yugi grinned and gave him an out of the blue hug.

Then he hugged the rest of the cast that stood by him. "My brother's probably wondering where I am, so I gotta go! Seeya!" As he skipped off, Mahaado wondered if he had one of those Yu-Gi-Oh! lollipops that were being sold for three dollars at the convention. They were very high in sugar.

"MANA!"

"Speaking of brothers..." Mana sighed and whirled around to face a tall man with blonde hair that reached his shoulders. Rather grumpily. "What's new?"

"Not your outfit, I can see," he said with a frown. "Didn't I tell you not to wear that thing?"

Mana threw her hands in the air in exasperation and cried, "But I'm the Dark Magician Girl! And this is a Yu-Gi-Oh! convention! And everyone else is wearing their costumes!" She pointed to Mahaado, who glanced down at his purple magician's robe and gave his staff a light wave as if to prove her point. "If he can wear that ridiculous thing, then why can't I wear mine?" This time, Mahaado folded his arms crossly and looked away. In the background, Bakura and Tristan were very close to turning blue from the lack of oxygen, due uncontrollable laughter.

"Because I don't want people staring you!" replied her older brother as a few random fans walked by. He snapped at them, "Mind your own business!" They quickened their pace.

"I'm an actress!" protested Mana, stamping a foot on the ground. "I'm on TV! People watch me all the time—at least when I'm on!"

"That's bad enough as it is."

"Big _brother_..." Mana was reduced to whining now.

"_Mana..._" He said, giving her a stern glare.

"Well, I'm not changing!" She said and folded her arms across her chest, stating that her word was final. "And what're you doing here anyway? You've gotta job to go to!"

"Fine, fine." He gave in. Before he left, he said to the 'mage-in-training', "But be careful; a few convicts escaped from jail a couple of hours ago. Don't talk to strangers. Stick close to people that you know. Stay away from weirdos. Be home by seven o'clock. And take the bus. Or I could come pick you up—"

"GO!" Mana barked and swung her wand at him. He backed away and waved sarcastically. "Agh! That's it! I'm escorting you to your car!" She grabbed his sleeve and dragged him to the main entrance of the building that the convention was held at.

When the two blondes left, Bakura asked Mahaado, "What's with him? You'd think that he was her father or something..."

"Their parents died in a car accident," said Mahaado quietly. Bakura nodded understandingly and gestured for him to continue. Mahaado rolled his eyes at the younger boy's inconsideration. Ever since Mana had been hired for the role of the Dark Magician Girl, Mahaado had gotten to know her very well. She had even become one of his close friends in such a short amount of time. "Well, anyway, she's under her brother's custody. End of story."

Bakura shrugged and went to look for Ryou. He just hoped that he hadn't been trapped by a bunch of fangirls. Bakura shuddered at the thought of the gruesome ending. Being glomped wasn't _that_ bad, but multiple glomps at the same time could result in catastrophic outcomes. While he was deep in thought, a slender, black-clad figure pushed pass him. "Hey! Watch where you're going..." Bakura recognized the wild, black hair almost instantly. "Zeph?"

The Magician of Black Chaos took no hesitation in snarling back, "Well, if you were being chased by mob of fangirls, you'd be in a hurry, too! In fact..." A wicked grin appeared on his face as he whistled to a group of white-haired girls, whose natural hair colors were probably not white, and shouted. "Look, there's Bakura!"

And that's why Bakura started running. "You _will_ pay for this!" He promised the Magician of Black Chaos just before the crowd overpowered him.

Zeph laughed and saluted him. "See? We're not so different after all, are we?" And then he realized that his own fans had caught up with him. So, he ran.

(-)

Yugi watched as Yami's pen whizzed across the sheets of paper. So quickly. Yugi admired his big brother's speed. His violet eyes followed the tip of the pen as the ink left a trail of blue on the paper and melded with the material. He could watch Yami sign autographs all day...

But Yami couldn't. "Yugi," he sighed and put down the pen, much to Yugi's disappointment, and flexed his fingers. "Yugi, do you mind actually signing a few of these?" He looked around when he got no answer. "Yugi?"

(-)

Tea couldn't believe she was doing this. She had been dared. If Yami or Joey... or anyone else from the cast saw her singing karaoke, that would be so embarrassing! But she liked to sing. She held the microphone to her lips, closed her eyes, and thought about the words to the song that she had chosen, _Shuffle._

She started out weakly, but she realized that people were actually cheering for her later on! As she began to grow more confident, she opened her eyes. The music went on, but she had stopped singing. Malik and Mariku stood right in front of her. They traded glances and their mouths had curved into huge grins. Tea didn't like the looks of that. She suddenly lost the will to sing, and she stumbled over her words. _"Aya... Ayatsurare... teru... teru no ka? on the field, daremo ga— Obiezu ni, go away, dem—demo..."_

The song ended, and Malik and Mariku were the only ones clapping overenthusiastically. Tea blushed as she stepped off stage. She wondered what she did to deserve this.

"Geez, Gardner, you really blew me away!" Mariku gushed, making big, lovey-dovey eyes at her.

Malik added his two cents, "Yeah, I mean... That was an _incredible_ performance! But the beginning wasn't that good..." They laughed relentlessly.

Scowling, Tea wanted to hit them really hard with the microphone in her hand...

_Thunk._

_Thunk._

And that's what she did.

(-)

Yami had taken a short break. However, it wasn't quite a break. Yugi had slipped away, yet again, but this time, Yami felt like he knew something was horribly wrong. It was just feeling, but Yami went to look for his little brother anyway.

He found the two Bakuras circled by a ring of girls. Ryou seemed a little tense, but Bakura had a big, cocky grin on his face proved that he was far from nervous. "So, then, after Mariku loses, I make a brief appearance. Too brief, if you ask me." The fangirls were staring at him with full attention. "Now, if you promise not to glomp me again, I'll tell you another spoiler."

Ryou had spotted Yami and motioned for him to come over. Yami was hesitant, but walked over anyway. "I found him like this, and thought he needed help, but now, he's the one keeping the girls at bay!" Ryou whispered, looking around anxiously. "O-oh yeah; I—I come in that episode... too!" He stuttered when a fan looked over at him.

"Have you seen Yugi?"

"Heh?" Ryou blinked. "Yeah, he was with a few tall, shady-looking men when I saw him last."

"And you didn't find that just a little suspicious and follow them!" Yami cried in disbelief.

"I'm not that kind of a person..." Ryou fought a grin that was threatening to appear on his face at Yami's expression.

(-)

"Mahaado! Come quick!" The purple-robed man gazed at the blonde's worried face. "You won't believe what I just saw!"

She ran behind him and pushed him without waiting for him to even respond. "Um... Mana?" he finally asked. "What's wrong?"

"I just came back in! And then I saw Yugi—I can't explain right now!" Her voice was commanding and firm. "We have to find everyone! _Now._"

(-)

It really hadn't occurred to Yugi that someone would try to harm him. This _was_ a Yu-Gi-Oh! convention, after all! Three tall men had just come up to him. Yugi didn't suspect anything at first, despite the fact that they were all wearing the exact same jumpsuits. After a few seconds, he began to get suspicious. That's when they grabbed him.

"A hostage," grunted a very brawny guy, who almost resembled a gorilla. "Whaddowe do with 'im?"

"Let him go, let him go! Who...who—kn—knows..." stammered a nervous-looking man, scanning around while twiddling his thumbs anxiously. "Who knows what this could get us into! I—I mean... where are we?"

"Forget about that!" spat the last of his captors. He was obviously the ringleader of this circus. "We're obviously in some big building."They weren'tvery bright, though, Yugi concluded. He took the boy by the collar of his shirt and dragged him up on stage.

A cry of horror came from the crowd. It was familiar. "T—Tea!" Yugi gasped, straining towards her, but the man's grip was too strong for him to break. "Tea, help me!"

The primate-like man took a microphone from a random singer's hand. He stared at him and backed away, not sure what to say. "We's got a kid 'ere!" the escaped convict announced, his voice booming across the huge room. "An' we's in control now. So lissen up, or deh kid ge's hurt!"

"Hey!" Yugi recognized Malik's voice as the blonde Egyptian climbed up on stage. "You! Drop the kid!"

"An' whaddaryou gonna do 'bout it?" The big man towered over him.

"Uh..." Malik snatched the microphone from him and said loudly and clearly, _"All fans evacuate the building! Now...!"_

(-)

_"... And Yami, get over here!"_ At once, Yami knew that it involved Yugi. He raced tow the karaoke stage.

Only to be tackled and wrestled behind a shelf of Yu-Gi-Oh! manga. "Mariku!" Yami roared, ready to punch the Battle City antagonist if he didn't get out of the way. "My little brother is in danger, and if...Mmmph!"

Mariku had clamped a hand over his mouth. "Shut up, already!" he whispered and looked around. "We've got an idea, but it's gonna take some really good acting."

Yami blinked and pulled Mariku's hand away from his face. "Acting? What's the plan?"

"Okay, first of all... I didn't make it up; Mana did."

"Of course."

"Secondly..." Mariku whispered the plan into Yami's ear.

Snorting in disbelief, the 'ex-pharaoh' said, "That's never gonna work! Our faces are broadcast on TV! They KNOW we're actors; not the real deal!"

"Malik's keeping them busy and annoying the heck outta them," Mariku laughed quietly. "Smart guy. He gotsome information from them. Apparently, they don't even know where they are! Which is kinda sad because there are posters everywhere with your face on 'em... Not that they noticed 'em..."

Yami's expression was still doubtful, but many of Mana's crazy schemes have worked before. He knew that from experience. "All right. Just as long as they don't know who we really are, we'll be okay, right?"

"That's the spirit!" Grinning, Mariku held up a hand. "Now let me see your deck!"

(-------------)

Oh yeah, _Shuffle _is one of Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Japanese themes. :)

R&R!


	6. Rescue!

Behind the Scenes

By Anime-2000

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Hey, long time no see, everyone! Anime-2000's back with a new chapter for _Behind the Scenes_! Also, I changed the rating to K+ due to some violence—not that much, though—and to be safe. Hope that doesn't affect you guys! Enjoy!

(----------------)

Joey had arrived a little later due to some difficulties… which will not discussed at the moment. He had no idea what had happened or how the bustling convention had turned into a rescue mission, so when he came bursting through the main entrance, hollering, "Joey is in da house!" he was immediately gagged and blinded with Bakura's jacket and carried off by the two white-haired twins to where the Tea and the Egyptian brothers were. Seto Kaiba was there too and had shared his technical knowledge with spotlights and other stage props.

Bakura and Ryou dropped the blonde roughly on the tiled floor. Joey snatched off his head and gave his abductors dirty glares. "What the heck was that all about?"

Tea explained everything, much to everyone's relief. With wide eyes, Joey listened carefully, sitting perfectly still and staring with rapt attention. When she had finished, she concluded with, "Sorry you don't really have a role in this. We didn't think you'd come in so late…" She blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Do you… um… want to help Kaiba with the settings of our little skit?"

His lips drew back in a smile as Joey loudly announced, "If it's to save Yug', I'd even work with Kaiba! Count in me!"

And he was quickly silenced one, unified "shhh!"

But they were grateful for all the help they could get. Not being professional screenwriters, they weren't sure whether their script was perfect or not, but it was the only plan they had. Other than calling the police. But if they did that, they wouldn't have known what would happen. Would Yugi make it out alive after the police came rampaging in with twenty men, startling the convicts?

"All right," Seto said, interlocking his fingers and stretching them out in front of him. He had always wondered what it would've been like if he were a director or a cameraman. On second thought, forget that. His good looks were meant to be in front of the camera, not behind it. "Lights, cameras… action!"

(-)

The lights had gone out a few minutes ago, but those past few moments were filled with dread and anxiety. Yugi was certain his brother and friends would rescue him, but whether they would save him in time or not was a whole different story. He sat on the stage floor, hugging his legs to him with such a grip that he had started to lose feeling in them. The three men who had taken him hostage sat near him in a circle, discussing what to do next. They weren't the sharpest crayons in the box. Not the brightest, either. Maybe he could just sneak away in the dark…

Yugi moved slowly, almost getting to his hands and knees in preparation to run away. He heard a click and felt the metal barrel of a gun against his head. "Where d'you think you're going, runt?"

"How dare you call my light a runt?"

He could recognized that deep, resonant voice anywhere! Yugi looked to his left, expecting to see the spiky-haired silhouette of his older sibling.

But all he saw was a large pile of cardboard boxes that were used to store hundreds of DVDs. Yugi felt a crushing disappointment sink into his heart. Maybe he was doomed.

No, what was he thinking? He was saved! Yugi's spirits soared as said big brother stepped out from behind the wall of cardboard. In the dark, a figure sauntered out from behind the pile of boxes. It was Yugi's taller double.

A beam of light appeared from above and pooled around Yami's feet. His hands were placed in his pockets, his posture was a casual but confident curve, and on his face was his signature smirk that graced Yu-Gi-Oh! merchandise everywhere. Yugi wondered what he was doing; exposing himself right in front of his kidnappers was dangerous.

"Release him," Yami said calmly.

"You hiz bruhder or sumting?" asked the ape-man, standing up. He was standing several feet away from the older boy, but Yami could tell that he was much taller. This was risky, but he had to save his little brother!

Yami shook his head violently and snapped, "No, I'm his dark side, you fool! Uh—" He caught himself before he completely lost his cool. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Now if you don't want to face my wrath, I suggest you let him go!" He punched himself inwardly. This was horrible acting, not something one would expect from _him_!

The beady-eyed man, who was shaking, whimpered loudly.

"Uh huh," said the thug in charge. "Really, to me you just look like some dumb teenager with a bad hairstyle. And if you're this kid's dark side," he added, grabbed Yugi by the arm and yanking him to his feet, "then shouldn't you be inside his head? 'Cause that's a psychological problem, ain't it?"

Yes, Yami could feel the vein popping on his forehead as he tried to subdue his anger. He leaned forward a little and spat his retaliation, "Yes, well… I'm a _spirit_ and that's my great shadow powers working!" Yami was improvising now. He growled and mentally reminded himself to stick with to his original lines. Jabbing a finger at the three, he challenged them, "Now face me in a Shadow Game!"

The leader snorted. "This should be good. Go get 'im, Mace." He nodded to the biggest of the three. The human gorilla grinned toothily and stepped forward.

"The rules are simple, I'm sure, for you, too," Yami said, eyeing him carefully. He was worried about this guy. Timing was very important, and he could not afford to lose a second; it could mean a dislocated jaw or a shattered bone… Or a concussion… No, no, don't think that. He really needed to stop thinking ahead.

Yugi's 'dark side' pulled out of his hands out from his pocket with a deck of cards clutched in his fingers. He drew a card and showed it to his opponent. "See this?" he asked, pointing to the Big Shield Gardna's attack points. "These are known as attack points, and Big Shield Gardna only has 100. Now, we will both draw cards. Whoever draws the card with the highest attack points wins; the person who draws the lowest is the loser, understand?"

"Yeah," replied Mace, giving him a sinister smile. "Piece 'o cake."

"Good," Yami said and placed the Big Shield Gardna at the bottom of his deck. "I'll go first!" he said and dramatically pulled a card from the top of his deck. After a glance, he smirked and revealed his card. "Ah, Dark Magician Girl! Two thousand attack points!"

Mace scowled and drew a card. His frown deepened. Yami rose on his toes to take a look at the card Mace held in his hands. "Celtic Guardian only has 1400 attack points," he told him, "which means you lose."

Snarling, the bigger man tossed the elvin card aside and was about to lunge at boy. Yugi's eyes widened. "Yami! YAMI, watch out!"

"No!" roared Yami and held the Dark Magician Girl card above his head. "_You_ lost! Now, pay the price!"

A cheerful giggle echoed; the feminine voice was light with humor. "Whoo!" an oddly dressed, golden-haired girl hooted as she fell from above. Her feet smashed right into Mace's head. Everyone froze. Then, the girl hopped off, winked, and twirled behind Yami, laughing the entire time. The large man fell to the floor, knocked completely senseless.

The Dark Magician Girl waved andpeered over Yami's shoulder as the young Duelist confidently demanded, "Who's next?"

'That could not have turned out any better!' Yami thought gleefully, containing his excitement behind a cool composure. Mana played out her part perfectly—receiving no injuries from her fall and makingthe 'Shadow Game'look as realistic as possible. If he hadn't been Yami, he would have turned around and kissed her!

"Uhh… Slim, you go next."

The trembling man stared at the other crook in horror. "Me—me? Rob, you're not serious… Y-you're not gonna let some maniac get me…?"

Rob glared at the poor man. "Slim, you've got two seconds before I _make_ you go."

Slim swallowed and slowly trudged to where the two teenagers stood. Yami and Mana exchanged glances. The same thought crossed both of their minds: This is gonna be a cinch.

"Here, I'll draw first," Yami said and plucked a card from the top of his deck. "Dark Magician—2500 attack points. What about you?"

Closing his eyes, Slim picked a card up tentatively. He opened his eyes hesitantly and started whimpering again. "Gai…Gaia the Fierce… Knight," he moaned, "Only 2300…"

Yami laughed darkly. "Looks like you lose. Dark Magician…!"

To the two criminals, the purple-robed man seemed to have been summoned by the so-called 'dark spirit' as he emerged from the darkness behind him and placed himself between Slim and the Dueling duo. In actuality, Mahaado had been hiding behind the pile of cardboard boxes with Yami. He had simply revealed himself later.

"Go, Dark Magician!" Yami cried as the Dark Magician brandished his green staff threateningly. "Dark Magic Attack!"

Of course, having no magic to attack Slim with because he was an actor, Mahaado did the second most effective thing. He raised his staff high in the air like a club and brought it crashing down on the slightly shorter man's head. Rob gave a surprised grunt as his companion dropped to the floor like a sack of rocks. Yami cringed and gave his tall friend an incredulous grin while Mana squealed, pressing her fists against her mouth. Yugi reacted the same way as she did.

Mahaado walked over to the victorious two, casually twirling his staff with his fingers. When he had stopped at his appointed position with his back against Mana's, the blonde girl hissed, without lowering her hands, "Man, you are heartless, aren't you?"

Yami started talking again, loudly. The two 'magicians' weren't paying attention to what came out of his mouth, but they were willing to bet he was trying to keep the remaining criminal from hearing their conversation. Mahaado tilted his head and closed his eyes, making it appear as if he were in deep contemplation, but his real intention was to have his long, indigo hair hide his face as he whispered back, "You were hazy when you gave me my directions."

"But that was cruel!" Mana sniffed.

"…I believe in my deck! And that is why it never fails me…" declared Yami.

"Well, what'd you expect me to do!"

"I dunno. Let him faint? He looked like he was about to!"

"Hmph, forget it. Hey, there's only one guy left…"

"Every deck has a heart!"

"…We could just end it here and take him down easily!"

"And when you can trust in your monsters…"

"Mahaado, no! That's no fun."

"This is a rescue mission—not a high school drama!"

"NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH THE HEART OF THE CARDS!" finished Yami, shooting both Mana and Mahaado evil glares. They shut up immediately.

The last of the three crooks raised an eyebrow. "So are you done, Kid?"

"Uh…" Yami blinked and then got back into character. "The question is, are you ready?"

"Yeah," said Rob, rubbing his stubbly chin as he walked up to Yami, dragging Yugi along with him. He kicked the bodies of his unconscious lackeys out of his path. "Yeah… But I get to go first this time, got it?" Even Yugi noticed that Yami's face fell when he said that. Rob sneered, "Is that a problem?"

"…" Thrusting his deck forward, Yami said stiffly, "No. No, it's not…" His two friends standing behind him tensed up. This was not part of their plan. But if things turned for the worst, they would be ready to spring into action.

Beads of sweat started forming on Yami's face. This Rob guy had been more intelligent than he had anticipated. With the results of the previous two games, the person who drew first always won. 'Now…' Yami's empty fist tightened. 'Agh, maybe Mahaado was right. We should all just jump him now!' His mind was working furiously, all the cogs and gears moving rapidly.

Rob drew a card, and his sneer grew broader.

And then all the gears in Yami's mind came to a screeching halt. 'Wait a minute.' Come to think of it, he didn't even know the outcomes of the draws. All he was told was what to say when he drew the chosen cards. Mariku had stacked his deck.

Yami picked a card up.

If he had been anyone else, he would've kissed Mariku, too. Both players revealed their cards at the same time.

Rob had drawn the Magician of Black Chaos.

Yami's card was the Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"With 3000, the Blue Eyes White Dragon has 200 more points than the Magician of Black Chaos!" Yami declared, flaunting the dragon card in the face of his brother's kidnapper. "Now it's your turn!"

A large shadow fell over the five of them. Rob turned around and saw a white, snarling dragon towering over him. It bared its teeth, its claws extended as it froze in mid-air pounce. The crook let go of Yugi's arm and screamed.

Until he realized it was made of cardboard.

A man dressed completely in black with magenta bands around his limbs appeared from behind it. Rob recognized the black-haired man as the Magician of Black Chaos from the card. Zeph just grinned. "Hey, look what I found!"

The other four actors burst out laughing. Rob looked around, utterly confused. Yugi's spiky head appeared from behind Yami, and he made a face.

"Congratulations!" the older Kaiba's voice boomed across the hall. "And thank you for participating in our little act!" A spotlight fell around Rob. "Aren't you lucky—any Yu-Gi-Oh! fan here would've traded their left arm for your role!"

"Yu-Yu-Gi-Oh!…?" mumbled the convict, still bewildered.

"Now, let's give our actors and actress a round of applause, eh? Yami—as Yami Yugi, dark spirit of the puzzle!" continued Seto and snidely added, "aka, the slightly bigger one with the bad haircut!"

The aforementioned Yami raised a hand and received the applause of his fellow actors with a modest nod.

"Mahaado and Mana played out the roles of Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl!"

The man in the purple armor just shrugged while the girl laughed and blew out kisses to an invisible audience.

"And the littler one with the bad haircut is little Yugi, who played the role as hostage… without knowing it!"

Yugi blushed, out of shyness and anger at being called little with a bad haircut.

"Zeph, the talented young man who played the Magician of Black Chaos _and_ the Blue Eyes White Dragon, well done!"

Zeph dropped the cardboard dragon and took an overly exaggerated bow.

"And of course, us behind the scenes who did all the special effects, and lighting, and such, me Seto Kaiba—"

"And Joey Wheeler!" declared Joey's voice as he pushed Seto aside.

Mana folded her arms across her chest as she backed away. The others followed her action until the convict was surrounded by a twenty-feet radius of nothing but air. "Rob, Slim, and Mace, right?" she asked the dumbfounded Rob. "We didn't forget about you!"

Every single door in the building slammed open. Men in uniform charged in and filled the twenty-feet radius. "Police! Freeze!"

"In fact, we have a special award for you—a free trip to the nearest jail in town. What a prize, eh?" The lights were back on again, and Tea stood next to Mana with a cell phone in her hand. She had called for the authorities during the middle of the performance.

"Guys!" said Tristan, hurrying to the two girls. He held a video camera in his hands, and he proudly presented it to the blonde. "I got it all down on tape! I think I did pretty good with all of that." He smiled and gloated, "I would make a pretty decent cameraman if I do say so myself!"

Yami chuckled good-naturedly and said, "No kidding." He ruffled Yugi's hair and gave him a thumbs-up. "Things could not have possibly turned out better."

(-)

And strangely enough, copies of that tape sold better over the Internet than the actual, legitimate Yu-Gi-Oh! DVDs.

(--------------)

Hey, that took too long to write! Whew!

That'd make a pretty good ending, now wouldn't it?


End file.
